PERU: From Shantytown to Model for Urban Development

Peruvian activist María Elena Moyano became a liability in the eyes of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels on Feb. 13, 1992. That was the day she dared to flout the curfew imposed by the insurgents in order to lead a peace march in the streets.

DEVELOPMENT-CAMBODIA: Urban-Rural Divide Set To Widen

Phnom Penh’s skyline is set for a dramatic change, now that South Korean companies have confirmed plans to build two skyscrapers in the Cambodian capital. The 42-storey Gold Tower is scheduled to be completed by 2011, while a 53-storey structure will be ready the following year.

ARTS: The Young Take the Spotlight

With a fascinating range of films, and an abundance of glitz and glamour, the 58th International Berlin Movie jamboree has excited audiences this year, even if the main competition films have largely been overshadowed by the work of younger, experimental film-makers in the festival's numerous other sections.

IRAQ: The Lights Have Gone Out, Who Cares

Lack of electricity in Baquba has shattered businesses, and the lives of families. Months of power failures has darkened morale everywhere.

ASTRONOMY-COLOMBIA: Dazzled by Stars, Dreams and Doubts

Esteban Felipe is six years old and wants to be a policeman when he grows up. Or better still, an astronomer, he says as he plays with a plastic rocket that he decorated with coloured paper at one of the children’s workshops at the 11th Festival of self-taught astronomers.

CUBA: Cultural Policy Debate Keeps Growing

More than a year after the outbreak of the so-called "e-mail war", the debate on cultural policy has not died down in Cuba. And although the issue is not addressed in the national media, the discussion continues, and is spreading to embrace other aspects of life in this socialist island nation.

MEXICO: Invisible Indigenous Communities in the Heart of the Capital

Chapultepec Avenue 380: the address leads to a downtown section of the Mexican capital full of the usual office buildings, restaurants and heavy traffic. Few people know that it is actually home to an indigenous community, made up of kids who clean windshields or panhandle for a few coins, construction workers and street vendors.

POLITICS-CHINA: Spielbergian Snub – Blow To Cultivated Image

For image conscious China the public snub by Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, withdrawing involvement with the Beijing Olympics to protest the country’s indifference to the Darfur crisis, is seen as a setback to painstaking efforts to stage the perfect ‘coming-of-age’ party.

ARGENTINA: Boost for Coal Mine Revives Stagnant Town

With winter temperatures that plunge to 20 degrees below zero, the small Argentine town of Río Turbio, 3,000 kilometres southwest of Buenos Aires, would not exist but for the coal beneath its soil.

MIDEAST: For the World, Gaza Is Reality TV

"We are being starved, killed, tortured, and besieged - and all this while the world just watches," says Abu Wael at the funeral of the latest group of Gazans killed by Israeli forces.

ECONOMY: U.S. Banks Offer "Lifeline" as Mortgage Crisis Spreads

U.S. borrowers in the throes of foreclosure won a temporary reprieve Tuesday under an initiative cobbled together by the Bush administration and six leading mortgage lenders.

CANADA: High Housing Prices Swell Ranks of Homeless

Canada is continuing to see increases in homelessness and precarious housing situations across the country as rents increase and incomes stay level, but intergovernmental bickering over housing policy is overshadowing the need to take leadership on the issue, according to critics.

ARGENTINA: Public Employees Go for IT

In keeping with its aim to shore up the strong role played by the state, which was badly weakened during the years when free-market economic policies were predominant, the Argentine government is implementing a successful programme of electronic learning for its employees that is already being requested by a dozen Latin American countries interested in replicating the experience.

LEBANON: A New Struggle for Life After War

The solemn black-clad crowd rallied in Tyre's downtown for the Muslim commemoration of Ashoura, which marks the battlefield death of Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, and an enduring symbol of resistance for the Shia in Lebanon. The population here is mostly Shia Muslims.

EAST TIMOR: Violence Targets Highest Levels of Gov&#39t

It was a time of hope and rejoicing when East Timor finally achieved independence in May 2002, after 450 years of Portuguese rule and a quarter-century occupation by Indonesia that killed one-third of the population. But the violence has not let up, and it was President José Ramos-Horta who was in the cross-hairs this Monday.

POLITICS-MEXICO: Is the Left About to Implode?

In less than two years, the leftwing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) has swung from its best electoral showing in history to a drastic fall in its support, while internal conflicts threaten to split it apart.

RIGHTS-FRANCE: New Rescue Plan May Save Few

The French government's new plan for reconstruction of the poorest neighbourhoods has sparked criticism, both within the government and among the opposition.

GERMANY: Dating Agency for Disabled Shows Love Has No Barriers

"Living as a couple is the best dream come true," Volker Lauer told IPS, referring to his five-year relationship with Monika, who he met through a unique German dating agency for the disabled.

HEALTH-PARAGUAY: Dengue Alert

As health authorities in Paraguay brace themselves to face another possible outbreak of dengue fever, critics are becoming more outspoken about the limited effectiveness of campaigns to prevent the disease, which affected over 28,000 people and caused 17 deaths in 2007.

THEATRE-BRAZIL: Bringing Dreams to Life in the Favela

In La Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Romeo and Juliet’s love story is impossible because they live on hills controlled by rival gangs of drug traffickers.

LEBANON: Survived, Now Let the Show Go On

A bomb tears through the bustling Chevrolet area on the outskirts of Beirut. Bad news travels fast: Captain Wissam Eid from the Internal Security Forces has been killed in the blast. This is a typical day for Lebanese citizens.